A judge not blinded by the lights
Over the next three months, the news media will train a bright light on the Antoin "Tony" Rezko's corruption trial, with all its broad political implications.
Don't expect presiding U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve to wilt -- or even break a sweat -- under the glare.
High-profile cases and heavy media attention are nothing new to St. Eve, who drew widely favorable reviews for her work in the fraud and obstruction of justice trial of former Sun-Times and Hollinger CEO Conrad Black.
But the Black trial wasn't St. Eve's first prominent case, either. Her initial involvement in a case drawing national attention dates all the way back to the mid-1990s, when she was only 30 years old and Bill Clinton was in the White House.
After an investigation into alleged irregularities in a real estate deal involving associates of Clinton, the U.S. attorney's office in Arkansas prosecuted what came to be called the Whitewater case. St. Eve was among the prosecutors responsible for eventually winning a conviction of former Arkansas Gov. Jim Guy Tucker.
St. Eve grew up in downstate Belleville. There, former U.S. Sen. Alan Dixon -- a close friend and golfing buddy of St. Eve's father -- got an early glimpse of the intellect and self-discipline that would launch her to an Ivy League education, her first job at a top-drawer New York law firm, and a federal judgeship appointment by age 36.
Dixon spoke of St. Eve's personal qualities in the manner of a close family friend.
"Suffice it say that she is a delightful woman, very pleasant, very intelligent. meticulously honorable," he said. "If you were going to say, 'God give me a perfect daughter,' you would ask for Amy St. Eve."
What U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald saw in St. Eve was a resume that stood out in a crowd.
"I used to get about 80 applicants for each federal judge opening in Chicago and all of the applicants normally were highly qualified," said Fitzgerald, who voluntarily left the Senate after serving one term. "Still, her qualifications just jumped out at me."
St. Eve had graduated in 1990 near the top of her law class at Cornell University. After working several years at the New York firm and then with Ken Starr in the Whitewater prosecution, she returned to her home state to work as a prosecutor for then-U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar, who since has often lauded her work in his office.
St. Eve was working as corporate counsel for Abbott Laboratories when Fitzgerald tabbed her for the federal bench. St. Eve declined to be interviewed close to the opening of Rezko's trial, but Fitzgerald was happy to summarize his view of her courtroom management style.
"She insists on punctuality," Fitzgerald said, "she insists on civility, and she doesn't tolerate any nonsense in her courtroom."